The ‘five-year hitch’

ARCHIVES 2013

By admin-s On Jun 1, 2013

If we want to restore our authority and make this nation great again, GE-14 is not the answer.

Mariam Mokhtar, FMT

Many couples go through a seven year itch; a “rough patch” in their marriage, caused by boredom, when some spouses desire the freedom of being single again.

In Malaysia, one can recognise the least productive and incapable BN politician by his “Five-Year Hitch”; the time frame needed to implement the tasks they promised to complete if they were to win GE-13.

Interestingly, these politicians have chosen an interval of five years, which is when the GE-14 would be called. The rakyat can see through the politicians’ tricks and yet, the Election Commission (EC) has denied claims that the electoral system would mean BN would rule in perpetuity.

These politicians have not shown evidence that they are capable of carrying out their tasks, but they are already canvassing for re-election in five years time, in GE-14.

Despite the promises they made when campaigning for GE-13, they have already come up with excuses. They have learnt from their mentor, the leader of Umno-Baru, Najib Tun Razak, that words speak louder than actions and the best phrase is “You help me, I help you.”

This year has yet to see the usual Malaysian election phenomenon, when turncoat politicians – “frogs” cross over to the ‘other’ side. They will probably make their moves soon.

Men who have lied to the rakyat, now have very senior roles in the Cabinet. Some of these men were not elected by the rakyat but secured a place in the Cabinet through deceit. Others who were once guilty of money politics, now draw a salary which is paid for by the taxpayer.

Both these sorts of men, have one thing in common; they are in charge of policies which will affect the rakyat.

The first to make his debut performance, barely two weeks after GE-13, was Hindraf’s P Waythamoorthy, a deputy minister in the Prime minister’s Department (PMD).

After his hunger strike, which he used to embarrass and weaken the opposition, Waythamoorthy announced that he would need five years to resolve the issue of stateless Indians. He made it clear that Hindraf had a mechanism to solve the problem and yet declined to give details. Does a plan even exist?

Is Waythamoorthy’s time to be spent resolving only the issue of the stateless Indian? In the five years that Waythamoorthy claims he will need to resolve the problem of the 300,000 stateless Indian, a few hundred thousand people from Bangladesh, the Philippines, Pakistan, Myanmar or Indonesia will have become fully fledged Malaysian citizens, without any problems.

Does Waythamoorthy realise that many Orang Asli, Penan and other indigenous peoples of Sabah and Sarawak are also stateless? These people cannot afford the long and expensive journey to town to register the births of their children. These people are also denied education, health and other benefits.

Illegitimate children of Muslim parents are also disenfranchised and might as well be considered stateless. They cannot attend school, or have a passport or enjoy the benefits all children should be entitled to.